'Hitman' Web Site Creator in U.S. Prison

United Press International

The Las Vegas man who created HitmanForHire.net, a Web site promising professional killers "at a moment's notice," is now in a federal prison in Mississippi.

Essam Ahmed Eid, 56, who was convicted in both Ireland and the United States of crimes related to his online business, is eligible for release as early as November 2013 after he was sentenced in Los Angeles to a 33-month jail sentence on a conspiracy relating to extortion charge, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

Authorities said Eid, who was born in Egypt, approached a woman in Los Angeles in 2006 and told her someone had offered him $37,000 to have her killed. However, he said he only received a $17,000 deposit and would spare the woman's life if she paid the outstanding balance on the contract.

The woman sought assistance from the FBI, but investigators said Eid left the country for Ireland during their investigation.

Authorities in Ireland arrested Eid after he approached a man and said he had been offered $174,876 to kill him, his brother and their father. He offered to spare their lives for $134,520.

Eid was convicted of extortion and burglary in Dublin and sentenced to six years in prison. He was extradited to Los Angeles to face trial last year.

Authorities said Eid's scheme for the Web site, which is how he was contacted by the people seeking to have their acquaintances killed, went beyond extortion, as he had researched a method for silencing a pistol and even made poisonous ricin powder in his garage..